There are a couple of fantasy baseball deep sleepers each year that can make the difference for your team. The following 2012 profile of Alex Presley will analyze the chances that he might be one of the next big sleepers. He was selected based on my simple selection process which is detailed in this introductory post.
ADP as of this posting: 217.38 (Round 19 in 12-team league)
Projected 2012 Role: Starting OF
2011 Production: .298 AVG, 4 HR, 27 R, 20 RBI, 9 SB in 231 PA
My 2012 Prediction: .290 AVG, 10 HR, 80 R, 60 RBI, 25 SB if he starts
Presley didn’t set the world on fire in his 231 plate appearances last year but he showed decent enough potential in each of the five main roto categories to make him a sexy sleeper candidate. He doesn’t have quite enough power to be a 20/20 candidate nor is he fast enough to steal 40 bases nor can he hit well enough to hit above .300 nor is his team good enough to get him 100 runs. But, just because he’s not going to be a superstar doesn’t make him completely worthless as a sleeper candidate. So, it begs the question, what does he have going for him?
Well, to start, he has enough power to not kill you in that category as he hit 44 minor league HR’s and projects to hit about 10 HR if given 600 PA. However, his two best attributes are his stolen bases and his batting average as he hit .290 in the minors and stole his fair share of bases. If he were to be made a starter in 2012 then he has the potential to deliver very nice value as a 4th or 5th outfielder. He won’t set the world on fire by any means but you could do much worse in the 19th round of your draft.
Sleeper Verdict: Yawny. He’s not a super sleeper that’s going to bring home a championship for you but he’s got the potential to deliver a bit more value than your typical 19th round pick.
